Hair Care
by moorinya
Summary: Lee's quivering voice sliced the eerie silence, "I-Ino-san, t-that's..." "Oh shit. Now she's done it." Sakura moaned. Silence followed. And then..."Duck and cover Sakura-chan! Lee!" NejiIno pairing, Rated T for slight profanity


Moo: Hi everyone! Thank you all for reading my first story, No Serenity, I'm very grateful. I think I'm going to take down that story down yet again, because I wrote it too speedily and it's not my true writing style. I haven't done much writing lately. I guess you could say I'm out of practice, so I hope I can get back in touch with my special writing vibe, and what better way to do that than to… well… write?

I have a lot of story ideas planned in my brain, so be prepared. I've always liked NejiIno pairing since I read a fanfiction piece involving those two. And since I am currently re-watching the entire Naruto series from the first episode (yes, challenging myself), there have been various scenes that triggered inspiration.

So enjoy!

* * *

She should have been feeling really good about herself.

The evening was crisp, but a comfortable temperature, and the sun was glowing a dim red-yellow color that reflected beautifully off of the surround trees and their leaves. She could smell the salt water that drifted through the air, becoming stronger as she and her team neared its source only a couple miles off. They were going to relax in a hot spring for one night after a long mission before returning to the Leaf Village and reporting their success to the fifth Hokage. It would be too dark to travel by night time, and the village would be in view within a good three hours that they could reach by lunch tomorrow morning, so it would be more convenient and enjoyable to take it easy instead of rushing home blindly through the forest and possibly stumbling upon some weirdos that may want to stir up a fight.

The group was currently returning from the Land of Tea, from where their previous affairs had occurred. The mission had been a fairly easy one, all of the team members had made it out barely injured if anything, and it had been one of Ino's best preformed missions by far. So the young blonde girl should be feeling pretty good about herself. She should be patting herself on the back and repeatedly praising herself for not losing her cool when the opponent she had been pushed into fighting had her pinned to the ground with a knife at her throat while constantly hissing death-threats in her ear. And she should have been given some sort of award for finding the strength to knee that ass hole in the unmentionables and sending him into a massive coma that he'd probably never regain consciousness from. Ino knew that she had gotten stronger, she could feel it as she stared that bastard down, clenching her fists that had become pink and swollen from monstrous impact. She knew there should be nothing in that moment that could make her feel belittled and insignificant. Then again, she knew Tsunade-sama should have been smart enough than to place her in the same squad as that jerk Neji Hyuuga. And because of said jerk, Ino couldn't help but drown in irritation and pulsating tension rather than float on her impressive accomplishments and excitement for a relaxing soak in the hot springs.

If it had been anyone else, Ino could have dealt with it, but ever since the second part of the Chuunin Exam a couple months back, the blue-eyed kunoichi would rather fight Chouji Akimichi for the last piece of BBQ beef on the grill than to be allied with that stoic son-of-a-bitch Hyuuga who only triggered negative and violent emotions. Their meeting in the Forest of Death had been brief, but utterly embarrassing as she had tried (and failed) to seduce him in order for she and her teammates to make a clean escape. It should have worked on any male shinobi, it always did because quite frankly Ino was one of those natural babes with a long slender body and a powder-white angelic face. And on top of that, she had locks of platinum sun-shine hair that looked like a sea of yellow diamonds and felt like newly woven silk pajamas. But those glassy white eyes had laughed at her, even though his lips remained pursed and uninterested. Neji had refused her -her of all people! - and stalked off like he'd run into a typical scavenging chipmunk rather than a rare beauty. No guy had ever treated her like that before and Ino had never felt more humiliated in her life. And since then, whenever she'd see him on occasional run-ins at Tsunade-sama's office or while visiting Shikamaru and Chouji in the hospital, he'd look at her with those disapproving, snarking eyes and cold thin lips, before brushing past her passively.

And even now that they were on a mission together, Neji continued to treat her like an invisible laughing stalk, which made her blood boil with anger. They were supposed to be allies for goodness sake! When Ino had attempted to engage in conversation, the boy merely bore those huge pearly eyes at her, like he was processing something incoherent and then drawing the conclusion that it was pointless as he proceeded to pretended she had said nothing at all. This happened multiple times throughout their mission together, and the more Neji continued to ignore her, the more tension began to build up around the entire group, so much so that it threatened to swallow them in uncontrollable heat and throbbing nerves.

As she walked down the dirt road and towards the hot spring with a sway in her step, Ino rolled one crystal blue eye to the side of her socket while the other remained closed, and peered agitatedly at the long, chocolate haired male that walked with equally as much grace beside her. Neji's eyes were shut, with arms crossed against his chest and face completely smooth and unwavering, but at the feel of radiating blood lust directed at him, he popped both pearly whites open to look at his comrade. Ino sneered, grunting in disapproval as she whipped her head in the opposite direction in a flurry of blonde. Her teeth ground together loud enough for all five of them to hear. Lagging behind weakly were their other three teammates, who felt questionable about getting too close in fear of falling victim to something that had absolutely nothing to do with them. Occasionally, Sakura Haruno would glance nervously at her green spandex-wearing friend Lee with concerned emerald eyes that silently portrayed a 'what-should-we-do?' gleam within her irises. In response, Lee would shrug his shoulders, because the poor boy hadn't the slightest clue what their deal was either. The third member, Naruto Uzumaki, being the blissfully oblivious nimrod he was, had both arms strewn behind his head to cradle his mop of golden locks, with his lips shaped into an 'o' as he whistled an upbeat tune in anticipation for a nice warm meal promised ahead of them.

Neji stopped suddenly, catching the others attention as they looked at him questionably. Ino placed a delicate hand on her hip, and looked the Hyuuga square in the face, "Oi, why'd we stop?"

For the first time during their assignment, Neji looked Ino in the eyes and raised a hand to point out in front of him, "Obvious Yamanaka-san, we're here." He stated it so blatantly that it almost sounded like he could have been offered a glass of water but he turned it down with a simple 'no thank you'. The boy proceeded in through the large wooden doorway, his nose raised, while the other three trailed behind, leaving a flushed and incredibly pissed off kunoichi who raised a clenched fist behind his back. She shook it furiously and fantasized about driving it through his gut and knocking that cool expression off his face.

"Yamanaka-san, if you don't mind, we'd like to check in, so please disembark on your foolishness and come inside." That irritable silky voice flowed out from the inn in such a way that made Ino dropped her arm in defeat and stomp in after her comrades with her hand remaining clenched until she caught up. Damn those eyes in the back of his head.

Inside the hot spring lobby there were a few lodgers floating about in a relaxed manner, and only a handful of attendants offering iced drinks and hot oolong tea. There were a couple of large plush chairs dyed in an earthy green color, and various paintings of blossoming flowers and shimmering stream-sides hung along the walls made of fine cedar wood. Ino could smell the sticky sweet scent of remnants that lingered from when the trees were furnished into the building, and it made her nose wrinkle in delight. She liked the smell of cedar, it always soothed her when she suffered from massive headaches.

The old lady at the front desk handed Sakura a room key that would be for the girls lodging, and Neji a key for the boys. She was a cheerful old thing, with many wrinkles that scrunched around her eyes and lower lip, and a neat sweep of grey-white hair tied back into a braid. Her yukata matched the color of the lobby chairs and bore a pin that had the inn's name scrawled across it. She seemed to take a liking to Sakura, for she patted the girls hand and told her with a grin to please enjoy her stay and not to hesitate in asking if she needed anything. Then she politely bowed to Neji, then to the others, and finally noticed Ino standing in the background.

"My, my, what a beautiful young lady you are my dear." The old lady gasped, before leaning in with a wicked smile, "That young man wouldn't happen to be your boyfriend, now would he?" Ino choked when she jabbed a thumb at Neji, who clearly overheard because his shoulders immediately went stiff.

Inwardly, Ino stabbed the idea mercilessly with a steak knife, but towards the hostesses she merely smiled and laughed in a clearly fake voice while batting a hand dismissively in front of her face, "Him? Don't be silly. There's no way."

The old lady clucked her tongue and shrugged, "Shame. What a stunning couple the two of you would make." Ino bit her tongue as the woman winked at her suggestively. Neji's posture softened, while Sakura and Lee held their breath with scarlet cheeks.

Naruto raised a brow at the remark and then burst into laughter, "Ino and Neji? That's the worst idea I've ever heard!"

"Idiot!" Sakura hollered, landing a hard blow on her friends corrupted noggin, "Learn to shut your mouth!"

A vein popped on Ino's forehead as she retracted herself from the front desk and stormed past Sakura, Naruto and Lee, stopping to turn and look at Neji long and hard before pushing her nose up with her thumb and sticking her tongue out childishly. The Hyuuga's brows raised at the action, but he didn't have a chance to retaliate because Ino'd already retreated towards the girls bath house, informing them of her whereabouts as she went.

Naruto snickered while Sakura began apologizing profusely to the oldest of the five for her best friends rude behavior, but Neji merely raised his hand to silence the babbling pink haired kunoichi and started in the opposite direction Ino had stampeded down. "I will go take a bath as well. Feel free to unload your things and rest up in the rooms before supper." He said and then turned his head completely from his comrades, disappearing around a corner in a matter of seconds.

Lee and Sakura looked back at the empty hallway after Neji with mixed expressions of worry, confusion, and relief that most of the tension had split into separate directions and following after their quarreling teammates. All the while, Naruto was busying himself by harassing one of the attendants about what time dinner would be served.

Sakura scratched the back of her head and smiled meekly with a furrowed pink brow, "What's with those two?" she muttered to the boy next to her.

Lee didn't have an answer, so he shook his head of clean cut hair and replied with a shrug, "beats me." He rested the back of one hand against his slender hip and tapped his chin thoughtfully with the index finger of his other hand, "Say, Sakura-san, we should probably get to the rooms so they know we'll be wanting dinner soon," he suggested and Sakura nodded in agreement, so the two decided to unpack and order food before following Neji and Ino's example of taking a dip in the hot salt water.

On the far right side of the lobby, their orange ninja accomplice was currently chewing the ear off a poor young female attendant, in a baby pink yukata uniform, that had unfortunately fallen into his line of hungry vision, "Hey, nee-chan, is there any ramen at this inn? Could they add extra pork? Oh! And do you think they could make the old man's diet ramen for my friend over there? Sakura-chan told me she's trying to drop a few pou-"

But he never got to finish for said dieter had his own ear in a vise grip between two manicured fingers, pinching down so hard the flesh was turning purple, "Naruto! Learn to shut your mouth!" Sakura snarled, yanking the blonde towards the direction of their designated rooms all the while with Naruto flailing his hands like a turtle that fell on its back.

"I'm very sorry about that Miss." Lee bowed politely to the befuddled attendant, while constant 'Ow! Sakura-chan that hurts!''s faded off in the distance, becoming squabbling gibberish as the three ninja grew farther from the lobby and out of sight.

* * *

Meanwhile, residing in the female's bath house was a very flustered, very ticked off sequined eyed kunoichi who had her face chin deep in the pool of hot water, blowing bubbles in an attempt to blow off steam. Inside her mind, Ino was inwardly repeating what that old lady had said about she and Neji being a 'stunning couple,' and how that jerk barely reacted like it didn't bother him at all. She saw how collected he was, (despite that minor moment of stiffness in his upper back), while her own heart was hammering and her blood was dangerously over boiling point.

She was getting tired of how he avoided everything that had to do with her. It was like her existence wasn't good enough to be acknowledged by him; like he was so high above her that it wasn't worth looking down to look at her properly. It pissed her off. Ino almost wished he'd be mean to her, because honestly she was at the point where she would prefer any kind of reaction rather than barely one if anything at all! It was so irritating that the only thing she could associate the Hyuuga genius with was those cold ice-white eyes drowning her in humiliating memories of when he completely blew off her attempt at seduction. And because he wouldn't give her the time of day, she couldn't create another image in her mind to replace the one that makes her feel shame and embarrassment. Ino even found herself questioning just what was so wrong with her that that ungentlemanly stuck-up Neji couldn't find her attractive.

What made him so high and mighty anyways? Sure, he was known to be strikingly beautiful with those silky tresses of hot-chocolate hair that easily competed with her own platinum locks, and yes said tresses framed his delicate pale face in such a delectable way that made him look like some sort of prince. So, okay his eyes were mysterious and alluring-sexy dare say-but they were also seriously wigged out and creepy; the way they sent unpleasant chills down the girls spin disturbed her every time their gazes collided with each other. If good looks were the challenge, Ino would consider herself a fair match and Neji Hyuuga was a messed up man if he couldn't appreciate the beauty she withholds.

It occurred to her once or twice that maybe it was because he was so much stronger than she was; he could whip her ass in hand to hand combat easily, and possibly kill her if either party wasn't taking the proper care. But then she also remembered that after his defeat against Naruto (how that happened, she'd never figure out), Neji's personality shifted completely; he'd began to seriously acknowledge Rock Lee as a rival, and all of the Leaf Village could (quite literally) hear the grunts and pants of hard work exploding from the Hyuuga estate during his aid in helping Hinata Hyuuga train. Even though he'd deliberately call Naruto an idiot and lecture him on being to brash, it also became obvious on how much Neji began to respect the knuckle head ninja, and for christ-sakes she even over heard the boy offering to treat TenTen for lunch as thanks for helping with his afternoon ninjustsu training. It had become clear to Ino that the only person Neji's feelings didn't shift positively towards was her, and it was brutally taking a toll on her self esteem.

With an exasperated sigh, the blonde flung herself back-first against the side of the hot spring tub, causing the sea-green water to slosh over the edge and run over the bumpy surface of the surrounding rocks. She ran her fingers through streams of soft, damp hair before standing up on dripping stick-skinny legs and wrapping a towel around her waist. Ino stepped out of water and walked towards the sliding soji doors leaving wet foot prints in her wake; thinking so much about Neji was making her dizzy, so she thought it was best to fetch a glass of cool water to chill her heated body, and change into her yukata before dinner was served. But when Ino came across a mirror in the changing rooms, she couldn't help but unravel her towel to take a good look at her incredibly lean figure and well rounded breasts. Her cheeks puffed in annoyance; what was so wrong with her anyways?

* * *

When Ino arrived at her shared room with Sakura fully covered by a bathrobe, the door had been left slightly ajar by her rosette friend's blue sandal with a note taped to the heel that read, 'Ino, gone to take a bath. Dinner should be hear in an hour and the boys will be joining us then. I left the key on the table so please don't close the door. Thanks. - Sakura.' She must have just missed her in the hallway.

Grumbling, Ino replaced the shoe back where Sakura had left it and glanced at the tea table where the room key glimmered a brilliant bronze in the gleam of the setting sun. It had gotten significantly darker than it had been a little while ago, but the sun hadn't vanished completely and left her in a tranquil golden glow that reddened as time sped by. The kunoichi thought it best to change into her yukata before the boys came, so she looked around for the little closet that contained neatly folded attire and necessary hand held fans for when it got hot. It took her approximately two seconds to locate it near the sliding doors that opened to the patio which wrapped itself around fresh gardens out back, and another two seconds to untie the fuzzy white belt around her waist that kept the bathrobe from revealing her private areas. The article of bath-wear pooled at her feet like a collection of soft clouds and she stepped out of it one slender leg at a time. Ino picked a suitable light purple yukata with butterfly patterns speckled all over the fabric in beaded threads of various complimentary colors.

The girl hadn't gotten one hand into a fluttering silk sleeve before she heard a quick intake of breath and quiet creak on the floor boards. Ino instantly whirled around in panic only to meet the equally wide eyes of her earlier turmoil. Neji was standing in the doorway clad in a teal green yukata that loosely hugged his body and exposed bits of toned flesh. His mouth was slightly drawn open and those crystal white eyes sparkled with beauteous shock, before almost immediately registering the situation and snapping shut.

"I apologize Yamanaka-san, excuse me." The words flew out so fast that Ino could barely comprehend them on top of the Hyuuga's action to swiftly slam the door before she had time to react.

The kunoichi's mouth could be comparable to a feeding goldfish if anyone else were in the room to witness it, but as the event that just occurred began to click in the young girls mind, her face exploded into a heat rush that would be just as comparable to an erupting volcano. "Oh. My. God."

Ino's knees grew weak and knobby as she clumsily finished her task of clothing herself before falling to the floor in disbelief. Neji Hyuuga just saw her naked. Her hands fisted the soft material of her yukata. No. Neji Hyuuga just saw her naked and didn't even bat an eyelash. It was difficult to remember exactly what had just happened even though it was only a mere fifty seconds ago, but it had happened so fast that her brain didn't really know what was going on to begin with. But from what the blonde could remember, it was obvious that that bastard didn't so much as twitch in response to her knock-out, completely nude, teenaged-boy's wet dream body. There wasn't so much as a splotch of blush on his round, prominent cheeks. It wasn't like Ino expected a nose bleed or a dramatic action such as fainting, but was it too much to ask for a logical reaction towards seeing a woman's nude pornographic 'display case'?

"Damn that Hyuuga!" The girl cursed, gritting her teeth together as she violently assaulted the tea table as means of physical anger management.

Tears of frustration and humiliation were bubbling in the corner of her lids, as her bright blue eyes became glossy with moist liquid. What the hell was wrong with her? And not just in Neji's eyes, what was emotionally wrong with her? Why did she feel like she needed to prove something to that jerk? And why did it get to her so much that the Hyuuga always treated her like dirt? Ino wished he'd just vanish so that these negative feelings may follow him in his disappearance from her life. At least, she wished this quick pit-stop, that was supposed to be blissfully enjoyable, would end soon so that she never had to see Neji and his stupid laughing white eyes again.

Just as she was about to land a drop kick on the violated cedar wood table, a knock came at the door. "Ino? It's Sakura. I thought I told you to keep my sandal in the doorway!"

* * *

Everyone gathered in the girls room that night for a large feast to celebrate the accomplishment of their mission in the Land of Tea. As mentioned before, their mission had been pretty easy. All they were assigned to do was escort one of the Daimyo's daughters back to her home city safely, and like most missions (that usually involve a certain overly energized whiskered ninja) they ran into a bit of trouble with a handful of jewel seeking bandits. Everyone got roughed up a little bit, but now that they were all gathered after relaxing in a hot bath and salivating over copious delicious looking dishes, it felt worth a smidge of 'friendly' combat.

Sakura was tediously trying to serve each of them equally a generous amount of food, but her attempts were radically disturbed as her long-time teammate began wolfing down anything he could get his grabby hands on. "Oi! Idiot, eat like a normal person!"

Naruto raised his face slightly from what was once a bowl of chicken yakisoba, with ash brown sauce dotted on multiple parts of his face. "But Sakura-chan, I'm so hungry!" he whined, which was met with a pair of enraged emerald green eyes.

"We all are!" The kunoichi hissed, raising her arm as if to land a solid one through Naruto's skull. The poor boy retracted, desperately covering his face as to avoid a broken nose or a cracked jaw.

"P-please Sakura-san, if you move to quickly you might knock over this food the inn keepers here worked so hard to prepare for us." Lee said, moving his hands in a swift patting motion as if to calm an angry, rabid puppy-dog. Naruto's eyes welled with appreciation towards his bushy-browed friend who returned his graciousness with a typical thumbs-up. Sakura's hands were twitching furiously and veins bulged from her forehead, but she had enough self restraint to retreat her ready-to-punch arms and fold them across her chest. But Ino could see that she was still shaking violently, and gave her friend props for the enormous amount of self control she was displaying.

All five of them were dressed in yukata of different colors; Sakura was folded comfortably in a soft copper red one with orange and crimson red stitching of goldfish and water lilies, while Rock Lee had chosen to wear his usual bright green color with shimmering silver embroidery of dragons and red-stitched paper lanterns. Naruto's was a lovely shade of dark blue with large orange pinwheel patterns littered all over the material, and everyone in the room had the same hand fan in deep earth green with the Inn's name printed in black kanji over the special paper.

Once Sakura had manage to rescue a good amount of food from the slobbering mouth of the orange ninja and serve the rest of the table, they broke their chopsticks and began to dig into the long anticipated meal. The salty and citrus aromas clashed with each other in such an inviting manner that it only made the food taste that much better. However, despite the heavenly delicious taste of Ino's beef negimaki, there was a tiny tinge of sour probing in the back of her throat, and it only increased it's displeasing sensation when her eyes fell Neji who was sitting right across from her. When he had arrived with Naruto and Lee for dinner earlier, the Hyuuga swept by her in a rustle of teal silk and sat down elegantly while nodding to Sakura in friendly greeting. He didn't so much as glance her way even once, and to this moment that streak of no eye contact was strongly in tact. Every time Ino dared a quick flick of blue eyes to land a curious gaze at the boy, Neji merely kept his eyes down cast with long lashes shading his cheek bones as he brought food to his mouth with delicate care of his hands and fingers. Ino bet that she could bore her eyes at him for hours and he'd still refuse to look up and meet her gaze. But she wasn't just looking to see if he'd acknowledge her presence, she was searching his face for any tell tail signs that what had happened even earlier before had effected him in any way; she was hoping her very existence was making him uncomfortable right now, because if it was than she'd know for a fact that she wasn't just some invisible voice in the back of his head, and that he really had payed even a sliver of attention to her beautiful body. But to Ino's dismay, if Neji was feeling unnerved in any sort of way, the shinobi was doing a splendid job at concealing it with a smooth, relaxed mask thats thoughts only seemed occupied by the bowl of miso soup in front of him.

After a couple minutes of silence and consumed eating, Sakura cleared her throat and put on a sweet smile as she addressed the rest of the group. "Has everyone had a good time today?" she asked, placing her chopsticks into a resting position against her plate of unfinished stir fry and duck.

"Suwr dwid!" Naruto answered with a mouth full of rice, and then continued stuffing his face.

Neji raised his head up, a thoughtful expression glazed over his face, "Yes, the day was quite relaxing, without incident."

His face was so collected and unmoving that Ino felt herself bite the gum of her inner cheek and her nose wrinkle with detest. Her brain felt like it had grown a heart of its own, and that heart was throbbing in her skull a mile a second, pumping incredible amounts of boiling-hot blood through her veins.

"Oh, I'm so glad Neji-san," the pink kunoichi chirped merrily from next to the progressively pissed off blonde, "and what about you Lee-san?"

Ino's ears were pounding so hard that whatever Lee had said the young girl missed. Her angry hard stare was locked on the Hyuuga prodigy and those crystal blue eyes were burning hot sapphires now. Neji, feeling the heat of her vicious glare finally peered up to where the uncomfortable presence was coming from, and connected his eyes with his younger teammate's. They both knew very well that the day, no, this entire mission was certainly not without incident and the major problem resided in the unidentified relationship the older male never bothered to clarify.

"And how about you Ino?" the cheerful voice of her friend pricked her ears, but Ino wasn't paying much attention to what the question was anymore.

"-you." The blonde muttered under her breath so low that the first part was completely washed out.

Sakura and Lee batted their eyes in puzzlement while Naruto provided his attention long enough to look at Ino with squinted eyes. "Excuse me?"

Neji raised a chocolate brow, a small tug pulled at his upper lip, and the poor kunoichi was officially driven out of her mind. She stood up so abruptly that it gave her whiplash, but she didn't care and most certainly didn't stop there. Her paper fan dropped the floor like a bird shot from the sky, and Ino smashed it into the ground with the heel of her quivering foot. "I HATE YOU!" She hollered, hurtling her chopsticks at Neji who easily dodged them with a quick lean to the right. "I hate how you treat me! Like I'm some kind of pest you'd rather wasn't in your life! You won't even respond to me when I talk to you either! I tried being nice to you by having a friendly conversation, but you ignored me! What do you want me to do Neji, disappear? Am I really such an eyesore!?" All the tension that loomed over Ino's shoulders for the past numerous hours were finally spilling out onto the table for everyone to hear and listen to, and as she began to run out of breath, the kunoichi's voice got higher and squeakier. She inhaled, "I'm sorry I'm such a burden to you! I'm sorry you had to see me naked!" The other three witnesses (Naruto, Sakura, Lee) gasped in disbelief, "and I'm _so _sorry I tried to seduce you in the Forest of Death! I should have _known _better than to expect the special, stuck-up, upper class pedigree of the Hyuuga family to have _emotions! _Silly me!"

Everyone's eyes had grown larger than saucers by the time Ino finished, everyone except the male ninja who was victim to her little onslaught of insults. Neji remained his usual composed self, the only difference was that his eyes were closed as if deep in thought and his arms were folded across his chest. The blonde was short of breath from all the yelling and long slew of venom dipped words, so she took a moment to catch her breath, brilliant blue eyes fixated on the Hyuuga's long eyelashes.

It took a moment for the others to recover, and when they did, the first one to speak was Naruto. He looked at his white-eyed friend and fairly recent opponent with a gaping mouth as he spoke, "So wait. You saw Ino naked? Does that mean, that like, you guys really _are_ dating?" It was obvious how shocked the golden blonde boy was by how unusually stupid (compared to the normal stupid) his tone dragged on as he asked his question.

Sakura was the next to fully regain her natural state of mind and find her voice that she had lost during all the screaming which was when her throat went dry. She helplessly looked at her trembling friend, before taking her doofus teammate into a headlock, pounding his skull in a merciless knuckle ensued nuggie. "Learn to shut your mouth!"

As Naruto flailed around in burning pain, Ino shifted, bowing her head to shade her eyes and upper cheekbones. And all to suddenly, with enormous amounts of enraged strength, she flipped the table over with a good kick from her left foot. All the food, dishes and serving utensils collapsed on the ground, glasses shattering into shards of white and black ceramic glass, and metal clinking as spoons and forks made contact with the ground. Noodles splattered in both Neji and Lee's lap, and soup sloshed all over the soji screen behind them. Sakura cried out while the golden blonde within her clutches cursed after being released from the pinkette's violent grasp.

After rubbing his neck a couple times to relieve the pain, Naruto took notice at the mess displayed out in front of him. Utterly devastated and ticked off at the wasted food, he shoved a finger at Ino who's head remained lulled, "What the hell Ino? Why'd you do that? Now how are we supposed to eat?"

Turning away, Ino said nothing as she exited the room in silence, her foot steps softly padding against the floor's fabric as they retreated into the hallway.

In an attempt to stop her friend, Sakura called out, "Ino, wait!" flinching when the door slammed shut, the noise resonating in all of their eardrums louder than a clap of thunder.

Neji and Lee began picking spilt noodles off of their knees and ankles, tossing them into an empty bowl that had not smashed upon impact, while Sakura and Naruto returned the toppled and well abused table to it's normal, upright position. The Hyuuga made a face as he removed a rather large fishcake from his shoulder and flung it in an offset area when the pink spiral began making him nauseous.

When they'd all tidied up a small amount, Sakura brushed her fingers through her hair and allowed a deep sigh to escape her lips, "I better go talk to Ino." She said, starting to get up from her crouching position, when Neji stood up much faster, and began making his way towards the door instead.

"Allow me to." He offered.

Lee looked at him uncertainly, not trusting his rival was the right person for the job, "But Neji-" he began, but Neji held up a hand to silence his protest.

"I'll be fine, don't worry." And with that, the white-eyed man drew the wooden door open and stepped out in pursuit of his platinum blonde comrade.

* * *

It took nearly an hour to finally locate Ino, even with his Byakuugan, but when he did, he found her hiding out in the kitchen with an armful of sweet bean rolls, viciously devouring each sugar coated pastry with hungry ambition and vigor. He noticed she had untied her ponytail, and now her translucent blonde hair was glowing wonderfully in the small amount of moonlight that poured from a window above her head. The kunoichi was leant against the master pantry, completely alone since all the cooking staff got off at seven, and it was now almost eight thirty.

She didn't notice him until the boy cleared his voice, demanding her attention, "Those will just make you fat, you know."

Surprise clearly struck Ino's face, because Neji was the last person she expected, but it was quickly replaced by anger and repulsion, "What does it matter to you? Go away, I don't want to see you." the girl snapped, burying another roll into her mouth.

Neji rolled his eyes and shook his mane of long brown silk before claiming a place next to her on the ground. Ino immediately scooched four spaces away and glared daggers at the boy, silently telling him to stay where he was and not come any closer. So he criss crossed his legs and leant his back against the pantry as well with his head tilted up to look at the ceiling. "I thought you preferred I don't ignore you." He said in a milky smooth voice.

Ino 'humphed' and licked off some sweet bean paste that had escaped on her finger, "So now you want to listen, huh?"

"You said you wanted me to, so here I am Yamanaka-san." He tucked a stay lock behind his ear, and then met her shimmering blue gaze that looked clearer than the water in the Land of Waves.

"I never said that." The blonde hissed, wrinkling her nose and tearing a little more feverishly at a piece of glazed bread.

Neji tilted his head with furrowed eyebrows and a clear frown formed on his lips, "Maybe you didn't say it, but it sure sounded to me like you had something you wanted to say."

Chewing, Ino replied, "I have nothing to say to you, you jerk."

"And why am I a jerk?" he asked.

The kunoichi's mouth fell open and a piece of sweet bean roll dropped from her lips and onto her lap, "are you serious?" Neji nodded, coaxing her to continue. "First, you completely ignore me when I try to make decent conversation, I mean you don't even make a noise that shows you've received the message, and secondly you trampled all over my self esteem by making it obvious on how unattractive you think I am!" She flung her arms up in exasperation, "Like, I get it already! You think I'm some annoying school girl, but why do you have to constantly remind me of how you think about me every time we happen to be together?" Images of those laughing diamond-white eyes she'd witnessed over and over launched in her brain and caused her to add an additional groan and down another roll in three rapid bites.

For what seemed like the first time, Neji was actually listening to what the blonde was saying, for he was nodding his head and looking at her with interest, but he squinted his eyes suspiciously at a certain part, "Why would you think that I think you are 'unattractive?'"

"Don't you remember? In the second part of the Chuunin exams, you-" Ino started, but trailed off, the memory triggering a stronger craving for the bundle of sweets she had cradled in her arms.

Neji thought about it for a moment, "Ah. I remember." the shinobi paused, looking at the ground, "You couldn't possibly have expected me to pay attention to something like that when I could have easily been ambushed or killed at any moment, Yamanaka-san."

Ino's face flushed a crimson read as her eyes narrowed to the side, becoming very concerned with a specific crack in the floor's wood work. "No boy'd ever resisted me before." Her baby pink lips pouted as she said that, sounding uncharacteristically babyish and immature.

"Well, quite frankly, I'm not like most boys, Yamanaka-san. I, for one, am far more concerned with my life and my training, than with a girl I've only met for a matter of seconds." Neji folded his hands in his lap and then returned his gaze to the ceiling once more. He could see multiple mouse holes and cobwebs up there, along with carvings of names scrawled in messy kanji.

Despite feeling a little bit stupid and a little less angry, Ino carried on her antics "Well then, why do you ignore me?"

"Why is it so important that I acknowledge you?" He retorted.

Round red cheeks puffed in annoyance as the kunoichi stared on straight ahead, "Because! When you ignore me it makes me feel insignificant and unimportant! It's like I'm not good enough for you, and even when I try to become better you refuse to see me in a different light! It's like I'm invisible, and I hate the feeling, especially when I get it from you!" When she finished, Ino began wolfing down her sixth sweet bean roll of the night.

The Hyuuga snorted, and rolled his eyes to the side to look at her clearly "So basically, you're trying to tell me you like me."

"Gck!" The blonde choked on a piece of bread as he said that, creating the need to pound her chest multiple times in order to send the food down the right direction. She coughed and hacked a little more, with tear droplets pooling in her eyes from the strain caused to her lungs, before she could form a proper sentence without wavering. "_Like_? _You_? Have you gone crazy?"

Neji smirked, making it the first smirk he'd ever directed towards the girl, catching her a tiny bit off guard, "That's what it sounds like to me."

Gritting her teeth, Ino jumped up and moved away, "I don't care what it sounds like to you! All I was trying to say was that I don't like how ugly you make me feel. After every time I see your face, I always feel like I'm the ugliest girl in all of the Leaf Village!" she snapped, cautiously eyeing the shinobi as he too stood up from his place on the ground.

Neji stretched his shoulder that had cramped from leaning against the hard wood pantry for too long, and then proceeded by placing said shoulder's accomplice hand on his hip. He craned his neck so that a rush of deep brown moonlit hair cascaded down his collarbone and rested against his chest. "I do not think you are ugly." The statement sounded so sincere in his icy soft voice that Ino's jaw felt numb.

"Don't lie."

"I'm not lying." The Hyuuga prodigy shrugged, and then added as an extra thought "Actually, I think you're rather beautiful." He stepped towards the girl, who was frozen in shock and couldn't move to avoid his presence that neared her as the clock above ticked the seconds away.

Eventually, when thirty long ticks had clicked by, Neji was close enough to reach out and touch the blonde kunoichi's face, before maneuvering his hand to play with a lock of platinum hair between his fingers. Ino's breath hitched in her throat, and her heart beat sped up so fast that it began sending large amounts of blood to her face. He was so close to her that she could feel warm air leaving his lips and kissing the skin of her baby doll face. She could see each individual eyelash as they casted long shadows against his cheekbones and those diamond white eyes had never looked so clear and transparent as they did just then. And this time, they were definitely not laughing at her. No, they were reassuring her that every word flown from Neji's mouth was the truth, that he really didn't think she was ugly; that he truly believed she was beautiful.

With such a handsome face so close to her own, it was hard to muster up any form of proper speech, but Ino managed a jittery whisper that brushed the long haired boy's ears, "Then why didn't you react when you saw my body? Why didn't you react when I tried to seduce you?" The question wasn't, 'why didn't you fall for it' rather she meant why couldn't his emotions respond reasonably like an ordinary person would towards something they found enchanting, and he understood that.

It took a second for Neji to come up with a reply, "Do you really want to know why?" he asked, leaning in so that his lips nearly brazed the shell of her ear.

Ino gulped, but she nodded, "Yes."

She could picture the tug at his mouth as he slowly drawled out "because, quite frankly Yamanaka-san, I think I am much more beautiful than you."

With large sequined eyes and shocked raised blonde brows, the kunoichi pushed Neji away as her expression quickly changed to one of bubbling anger. "Excuse me!? So in the end, this really is because you're a fucking arrogant bastard!" she yelled so loud that her voice echoed off the empty walls of the deserted kitchen.

Neji frowned, "Watch your tongue. Girls shouldn't use such foul language."

Ino reached behind her on the countertop, groping around with only the sliver of light from the upper window to guide her through as she searched for something in particular to grab hold of. She'd seen it around here earlier... aha!

In a flash of silver that clashed with the moon, Ino drew out a large butcher's knife one of the chefs must have left out after clean-up. She held the handle in a vice grip that trembled with hot white anger. The blonde was so pissed off at the older male for having had her explain such embarrassing details and then pulling a stunt like that under her nose. He'd humiliated her once again, but this time she wouldn't fall to her knees without a fight; she wouldn't let him make her into an unattractive fool ever again! The boiling anger in the pit of her chest and in the innards of her gut blotched her moral vision so much so that it was hard to see straight.

"That's it Hyuuga!" Ino hissed in a daring voice that cooed for an engaging battle, "Let's have a fight, you and I."

Looking warily at the knife in her hand, Neji sighed, "That's foolish Yamanaka-san, I won't fight you in a kitchen."

"Like hell you will!" She hollered back, and impulsively swung the knife in his direction but mistakingly knocked over a pile of newly washed and dried cooking pots. The metal crashed to the floor with a loud, hollow clang that rung all throughout the room and possibly the entire Inn. The kunoichi flailed her arms again in a second attempt, nearly catching his shoulder but Neji moved away too fast and instead a stack of pearly white glass bowls smashed to the ground and shattered all over the floor, looking like a rigid puddle of milk in the aftermath.

"Goddammit Yamanaka-san it was a joke!" Neji called as he barely avoided another blow to the shoulder.

Just then a familiar girly voice broke in through the loud clatters and other destructive sounds "Is everything alright!" Sakura, Lee and Naruto bustled in through the opening that lead into the kitchen, with the pinkette in front, concern slapped all over her face. When her observant emerald eyes drew in the situation and comprehended it's significance, panic began building up in her belly and she called out again. "Ino what in God's name are you doing?"

Ino didn't distract her focus on the brown haired man two feet away as she answered her best friend, "Sakura, I'm going to kill him!"

Everyone doubted that was possible, especially with something as simple as a butchers knife, but no one doubted that with the blonde in such a state of fury and rage she could inflict a serious wound on the shinobi if Neji wasn't careful. "Ino-san, please calm down!" This time it was the green ninja Lee that called out from the left side of his pink haired friend, with cupped hands around his mouth to project his voice as it clashed with another set of falling dishes toppled over by said kunoichi.

Naruto, who looked rather sleepy upon entering, was now fully awake and threw his own voice in there, "Ino! If you kill Neji, baa-chan will be really angry at you!"

Sakura growled and pinched his cheeks until they stretched unnaturally far out, "What kind of moronic attempt at persuasion is that, idiot!"

With one more thrust of the knife, Ino had Neji pinned back against the refrigerator with his hair splayed out in all directions behind his shoulders. His face was moist with sweat from all the dodging of sharp objects and falling pieces of dining-wear, and his breathing was quick and prompt. Diamond white eyes met with burning sapphire orbs that glowed with determination to exact revenge against him, and for the first time Neji almost believed Ino wanted to kill him.

"Fine! Let that old lady do whatever she wants. She shouldn't have paired me with this son of a bitch anyways!" Ino snapped back at the three standing helplessly in the door way with knocking knees and open jaws.

As the blonde kunoichi pulled back her arm with the knife in hand, Sakura yelled out one last time, "Ino, don't do something stupid!"

But it was too late.

The girl swung the silver blade down so fast that ducking was all Neji could do to avoid the threatening attack imposed on him. And then one by one, long brown pieces of silk fell to the ground and formed pools at Ino's feet. When said blonde looked to the floor to find the man that provoked her, it took a second for her eyes to adjust to the massive amounts of hair that shone like a streaming chocolate river in the moonlight. From behind she heard Lee intake a huge breath and Sakura utter a cry of astonishment. The only one that remained speechless was Naruto, who was looking in bewilderment in a completely different direction. Ino looked behind her, finding the golden blonde's gaze and following it to a spot just left of the ribbons of fallen hair, only to fall upon a very, very, _very,_ angry, unevenly short-haired Neji Hyuuga.

As his entire arms began trembling, and his hands started clenching and unclenching into vein popped fists, the other three ninja started backing away towards a safe corner near the stove and garbage disposal.

Lee's quivering voice sliced the eerie silence, "I-Ino-san, t-that's..."

"Oh shit. Now she's done it." Sakura moaned, her forehead falling into the embrace of her palm.

Silence followed. And then...

"Duck and cover Sakura-chan! Lee!" Naruto called out.

Ino dropped the knife to the floor as her eyes made out an equally sharp and shiny object clutched within the grasp of Neji's quaking palm. "No, wait, Neji! I didn't mean to do that. I'm sorry, I can-"

But her attempt at reasoning with the Hyuuga prodigy was futile, and in a blink of a brilliant blue eye and a sharp silver flash in the moonlight, he came at her.

* * *

"And, pfft, how, heh, did this, kkkt, happen exactly, pffft?" The withheld giggles of the fifth Hokage floated in the air towards the two shinobi who stood before her with bowed heads and humiliated expressions.

Ino and Neji, the most gorgeous shinobi in all of the village, had never looked so opposite and out of place to the older woman, and holding in the fits of laughter that tickled her throat was becoming harder and harder as she continued to examine them with wandering caramel eyes. Her attendant, Shizune, was having equally as much trouble and resorted to chewing tediously at her inner lip so as to not come off as disrespectful and rude. But the two really were a sight to see.

The once radiant platinum blonde kunoichi had a large bald spot on the right side of her head, and the fringe that covered one of her eyes was missing, replaced with spiky stubs that poked out from the crown of her head. That long sea of yellow diamond hair was cut off so unevenly that there was only one normal length strand that stood out amongst a bowl cut cropped bob that stopped at her chin. And the once dignified, handsome faced Hyuuga with silky chocolate milk hair had a poorly done buzz cut on his left side while his forehead bore horrifically done bangs of various lengths including one strand that didn't stop until the bridge of his pointed nose. The right side was chopped at his elbow in one section, while the other part that framed his delicate face ended right as his chin began. In short, Tsunade has never seen such terrible hair care in her entire life.

Ino was the first to speak up, "It wasn't my fault!" She wailed, pointing at Neji. Giggles began bubbling from the two women's mouths as the blonde continued, "If he didn't play such a mean trick on me, I wouldn't have gotten so angry!"

Tears began welling in the fifth's eyes as she puffed her cheeks to refrain from bursting, "Oh, hic, is that, s-so, hehe.. ahem?" she coughed, composing herself and eyeing Neji curiously.

"I take full responsibility Tsunade-sama. As the leader, I should have been able to control my comrade to a better degree." The Hyuuga's completely sincere confession only clashed histerically with his comedic and not-so-serious at all hairstyle, causing the Hokage and Shizune to fight down another fit of giggles.

"I see."

The two beauteously impaired shinobi glanced once at each other from the corner of their eyes before bowing deeply towards their ruler in apology for their previous foolishness and rash endeavors. "Forgive us, Tsunade-sama." Neji and Ino said simultaneously.

However, because of the sudden jolt of their heads to a downward position, tufts of shorter hair bobbed along in a rhythmic-like dance, bouncing uncontrollably in front of Tsunade who, at this point, could contain herself no longer, and burst out laughing along with Shizune who attempted to stifle her inappropriate fit by slapping a hand over her mouth. Ino and Neji hunched over in shame, both of their cheeks heating in embarrassment.

Choking on her own spit, Tsunade waved a hand dismissively at the two humiliated genin as she coughed into a pert fist, "No" cough "need" cough "to apologize. Ahem!" Patting her chest, the she continued, "You completed the mission with exceptional marks, and I am very proud. As to the destroyed property at the inn, you can figure out how to pay for it later. Just..." she paused, and motioned for her attendant to come forward. Shizune who also recovered from her laughing fit, moved closer to the two and faced her master in acknowledgment. "Do yourself a favor... Shizune get them a nice hair cut... pfft okay?"

Giggling, the raven haired woman bowed with a 'yes Tsunade-sama' and escorted the young kunoichi and Hyuuga prodigy out of the fifth's office. Once the door was closed and the lovely strawberry blonde woman was left to her own musings, she swerved in her chair and peered out the window in wondrous thought.

"I knew it would be fun to put those two together."

END

* * *

Moo: So what did you think? Please leave a review if you enjoyed it! and in your review, also give me pairings you would like me to write one shots for, so I can brain storm some ideas! Thank you so much, I hope you liked it!


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